Cultural
symbols refer to the condensed signs of cultural resources accumulated over a
long period of time by a nation, country or region. They reflect a series of
characteristics of spirit, material, intelligence and emotion unique to a
particular society or social group. Cultural symbols have been refined through
time, are tangible, and have the function of image communication. People from
different cultural backgrounds can easily communicate and understand each other
with the help of cultural symbols, because human beings are symbolic animals.
In public diplomacy, the use of the unique cultural symbols of the country or
the nation to carry out activities is not only conducive to the dissemination
of national culture, but also easier to shape a distinctive and distinctive
national image.

Shakespeare
was a famous master of English drama and a great master of Renaissance
literature. His works not only promoted the formation of modern English, but
also integrated its cultural charm into the British spiritual temperament. The
British council conducted a study to determine the influence and recognition of
Shakespeare. According to a survey released in March 2016, Shakespeare is one
of Britain's most enduring cultural figures and a powerful cultural icon. The
survey also showed that Shakespeare's worldwide popularity spans across
regions, sectors and ages. Shakespeare is well known and well liked throughout
the world.

Using
this, the UK integrated resources to promote Shakespearean theatrical culture
to the world in 2016. In China, not only brought English, drama, film, such as
cultural works, also online, offline, popular culture in language learning, the
feminist research covering many fields such as rich activities, is not only
deepened the elegant and the connotation of traditional British impression,
also pay attention to humanistic education and build the creative industries
developed modern British image.

Compared
with traditional diplomacy, public diplomacy is aimed at the people of other
countries. More attention is paid to disseminating cultural concepts and
building national image through communication and communication, as well as
humanization of culture. However, its fundamental purpose is still to promote
national interests. National interests are divided into direct and long-term
interests, and direct interests refer to the expected economic income. A study
published by the British council found that Shakespeare had a clear positive
impact on the British economy. People's desire to visit and study in Britain is
also related to Shakespeare. The one-year anniversary of the "eternal
Shakespeare" will see a number of music and drama shows put on in China,
which will not only bring considerable ticket revenue, but also bring more
cultural and creative industries into China and become regular projects. In
addition to the consumption of creative industries, the year-long cultural
exchange will also attract more Chinese people to visit, study and invest in
the UK, which is a short-term and predictable gain.

Apart
from the short-term economic income, the biggest function of public diplomacy
is to enhance the country's soft power. In today's increasingly globalized
world, countries must think more about how to enhance soft power when dealing
with international relations and formulating foreign policies. ? Joseph nye
argues that soft power comes from a country's political values, foreign policy
and culture. The reason why Britain has one of the top soft power in the world
is the strength of its cultural industry and the strong export of culture. In
Britain, the development of Shakespeare's cultural resources is both a cultural
awareness and a way of protection. However, the UK chooses to use the cultural
symbol "Shakespeare" in public diplomacy, and what is more important
is the great contribution that "Shakespeare" can make to Britain's
soft power.

Britain's
public diplomacy, though global, has its weight. China has always been a top
priority in British public diplomacy. Since the "creative Britain" in
2003, the UK has held a series of large-scale exchange activities in China,
including "extraordinary Britain", "artistic description
Britain" and "year of Sino-British cultural exchange". The
characteristics of British public diplomacy towards China can be summarized as:
integrated communication, deep interaction and long term effectiveness. But in
the "eternal Shakespeare" commemoration in 2016, Britain's public
diplomacy towards China took on new characteristics.

In
the past public diplomacy activities, the British creative industry almost
covers a variety of fields such as architecture, literature, music and so on,
and the cultural symbols are very rich. The combination of the meanings of the
symbols may show a long and splendid history and culture of a country, but each
symbol exerts an equal force, which gives a less distinct impression. In 2016,
all activities in the UK were organized around the cultural symbol of Shakespeare,
which lasted all year and was strong and impressive. At the same time, the
theme is clear. By showing the British development of Shakespeare's works,
Chinese audiences are guided to understand and love Shakespeare and achieve
self-growth, and finally their attitude towards Britain is changed or
strengthened. Although the cultural symbol is single, the memorial is not
limited to drama performance, but there are music, drama, film and other
touring performances offline, and there are knowledge popularization programs
such as open classes and intelligent classes online.

In
the program, several major troupes in the United Kingdom brought a good
performance in turn, basically to the month to play, key cities covered. The
film screening of the British film association has been a longitudinal study of
the transformation and remodeling of Shakespeare in the British film industry.
The major troupes show the latest Shakespearean play by the modern British
theatre company music. At the same time, considering the Chinese audiences'
understanding of Shakespeare's culture, the British side has also set up open
classes and intelligent classes to guide the audience into the works, not only
to learn the language and cultural knowledge, but also to deeply explore its
social significance. All the activities combined to present a three-dimensional
Shakespearean culture, which better confirmed the theme of the activities.

In
the program design, the British cultural public diplomacy has its clear
audience positioning and stratification. The offline theatrical performances
have limited tickets and high ticket prices, and the main audiences are those
with higher education level and better economic foundation. They are the elite
of China and the main force that is willing, able and likely to invest and
consume in the UK. Online Shakespeare specials, intelligence classes and open
online classes are more important to young people and even pupils. They are the
future of China. For Britain, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of familiarizing
them with, understanding and even liking British culture as soon as possible.

In
the era of "eyeball economy", a benchmark figure can often bring huge
traffic benefits. The so-called star effect is to use the popularity of stars
and the popularity of people to attract the audience. But only the star is far
from enough, only the intention to create quality programs can win people long
- term love. Britain's cultural public diplomacy knows this well, with the
"eternal Shakespeare" memorial in 2016 featuring dazzling
international stars as well as professional talent in various fields. Take the
British national theatre as an example. In March 2016, the British national
theatre selected three classic plays, namely "Othello", "king
Lear" and "Hamlet", which were shown in turn at the guangzhou
grand theater, which was highly praised. The three plays performed 11 times in
three days, with a total of 2,600 tickets sold, according to nanfang. Three
starred Adrian ? Lester, rory ? Kent kinnear, Simon ? ? bill Russell and
Benedict ? Chambers batch, all is the star. Four star, "star effect"
is the most significant is the star of "Hamlet" Benedict ? Chambers
batch. When the same Hamlet was released in the UK, it created a 100,000 ticket
sales miracle in minutes. As an internationally renowned actor, ji has a
considerable number of fans in China. An hour before the tickets were to be
shown in guangzhou, a large number of his fans were waiting outside, showing
the "star effect".

The
popularity of the program, of course, is due to the fan effect of the stars,
but at the same time, it should be seen that this is the audience's recognition
of the professional quality of British drama and Shakespeare drama. Among
these, there are various professionals to strictly control the quality of the
program. This was evident at the 2016 event. Of the royal Shakespeare company
such as "the king and country" tour, by its chief art consultant, is
famous for its adapted Shakespeare series of Gregory ? dolan served as director
of art; Britain's academy of music and drama series performance by British
music teacher, writer, theatre director qi ? roden fort guidance. The
combination of professional rigour and excellent acting has created a golden
brand of British theatre.

In
order to touch the heartstrings of Chinese audiences and satisfy their cultural
confidence, Britain, a master of cultural diplomacy, always pays attention to
integrating Chinese cultural symbols into the activities, finding the
connection with China and building Bridges of cultural communication and
understanding. In this activity, Chinese cultural symbols were not only used as
showcases, but combined with British cultural symbols to produce better
cultural creativity. Take the stage play jing meng, jointly produced by British
gecko theater and Shanghai drama art center in October 2016, as an example.
With the theme of "dreams", the play is inspired by the "four
dreams of linchuan" of Chinese legendary playwright tang xianzu, who is
known as "Oriental Shakespeare", and Shakespeare's "a midsummer
night's dream". This work not only expresses the understanding of love and
dream in Chinese and English culture, but also integrates the classic works of
two contemporary masters of drama. The deep integration and re-creation between
Chinese and English symbols is not only conducive to the second communication
of Shakespeare's culture, but also conducive to the in-depth communication
between Chinese and English culture and closer the distance between Chinese
audiences and British culture.